School of Rock. No, not the movie. Well, kind of. What started as lessons in a Philadelphia apartment in 1998 has turned into a worldwide powerhouse in the after-school music space.
Photo by Matt Marsh
While Paul Green, the founder, was not a substitute teacher at a private school, and he didn’t bring kids to a battle of the bands as the movie shows. He did build the program known as School of Rock, and it has resulted in stars, scholars, and everywhere in between.
The program is based around weekly one-on-one 45-minute lessons of instruments like guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, or vocals and a performance program where the kids, aged seven to 18, rehearse for two and a half hours every week for three months and put on shows. The shows consist of classic rock music like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Who, but since have grown to include things like old school hip hop, metal, and even Taylor Swift.
Photo by Matt Marsh
The big break the School of Rock got early on was when they did their “Best Of” show, which was a collection of the best songs from each show in a given season at the Trocadero. Located right next to Reading Terminal, a large tourist attraction in center city Philadelphia, “The Troc” can hold over 1,000 people.
The Trocadero has been the place famous performers have played in Philadelphia since it opened in 1870. Musicians and bands like Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam, Kendrick Lamar, Radiohead, and Nancy Sinatra have all stepped on the stage, and now kids from the School of Rock got to share that same honor.
While the program exploded, Green was not around long enough to see the full success. He sold the School of Rock franchise in early 2010 to an investment group. At the time when Green sold, there were 57 schools.
Now, almost 15 years later, there are more than 350 locations worldwide.
“He [Green] is not Jack Black or even how the movie portrayed Jack Black. I only met him a couple times when he came to rehearsals, but he was not well-liked,” said Rik Alison, the co-owner of the Main Line School of Rock. “He had a reputation for doing things his way. If anyone disagreed it wouldn’t go well, and it didn’t get him very far.”
Green was asked to interview for this project but declined the invitation.
Alison has been in the School of Rock pipeline for about two decades, starting at the Fort Washington location in Pennsylvania and moving to the Main Line School in Berwyn when it opened in 2009. Recently, he noticed a shift in the interest of the kids.
“The best thing about our program is the kids learning and getting into music they probably wouldn’t otherwise,” Alison said. “We love doing music like Frank Zappa, Genesis, Led Zeppelin, or the Ramones for that reason. The kids end up loving this stuff, and it’s even cooler for the parents. They see their kids playing the music they grew up loving.”
Photo by Matt Marsh
Photo by Matt Marsh
Not only do they provide a place for like-minded kids to jam to their favorite songs together, but this program also provides a “Liberal Arts Degree in Classic Rock,” said Alison. “But more importantly it forces all the kids to work as a team. I’ve always described it as team sports for people who play music.”
Upon the Main Line School of Rock opening their doors in 2009, the big break for this particular location came in the form of a former rock star turned JD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania.
During a Mid-90s show in the opening year of the school, Rogers Stevens, the lead guitarist for the band Blind Melon, heard they were doing their song “No Rain,” their big hit from that time.
Living not too far, not only did Stevens go to the performance, but he also hopped up on the stage and played the song. The kids and Stevens only rehearsed it one time together before the performance.
“I thought it was the coolest thing,” Stevens said. “These kids had no idea who I was or even who Blind Melon was before this show from what I remember, but we all played the song together, and it was an awesome experience. One I’ll remember forever.”
Photo by Matt Marsh
At this point, you may be asking, what is unique about this after-school program? Why is it worthy of a story?
It actually has nothing to do with music at all.
“What makes this place special is that it’s become the island of misfit toys,” Wally Smith, one of the school’s keyboard teachers, said. “We laugh all the time about it, but it really is true. We see kids from all walks of life come in these doors, but when they come in, it’s like they find a home.”
There is a palpable energy when you walk into the door. You can hear the drums or guitar lessons taking place. There is a constant chatter about what everyone is learning; it has become its own community.
“I can’t tell you how many times a parent has walked up to me and said we saved their kid’s life,” Alison said. “That’s what makes this place so special.”
The School of Rock is team sports for people who play music.
The School of Rock Story 
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